Tuesday, September 26, 2017

There are things we thought we knew and things we could not have known. Raise your hand if you penciled Aaron Judge in for 50 home runs. To some, he's the new face of the Yankees. To others, Judge represents something going on inside baseball -- more and more young players not just getting to the big leagues, but having an impact.
More»Betts, Ramirez, Giolito, Robles dazzle on the diamond

Twenty years ago, Dan O'Dowd was the director of baseball operations/assistant general manager for an Indians team that won its third consecutive American League Central title and advanced to the World Series for the second time in three years.
More» Holliday safe, Rox win No. 163

Sometimes a "Team of Destiny" wins the World Series. Sometimes the champion is a "Team of Manifest Destiny. "But most recently, the title has belonged to a "Team With a Sense of Urgency."
More» Bryant, Lindor star for contenders

The Yankees' record against the Twins since 2002 -- and this includes four soul-crushing postseason series for Minnesota -- is 89-33. And while this might give Twins fans nightmares ahead of a potential meeting in the Oct. 3 American League Wild Card Game, I can't help but think that Yankees fans might be more nervous.
More» Yanks hit three homers and beat Twins, 11-3

Manager Torey Lovullo has had a calm demeanor and steady hand, working his way into the discussion for NL Manager of the Year honors as he guides Arizona back to the postseason.
More» D-backs clinch postseason berth

By his own volition, it's been a frustrating couple of years for D-backs center fielder A.J. Pollock, coping with one injury after another. But right now, he's right where he wants to be.
More» Pollock goes deep for a three-run jack

Maybe this statistic will blow you mind like it did mine: Giancarlo Stanton does not lead the Major Leagues in slugging percentage. Well, technically he does, because the two players ahead of him don't quite have the plate appearances to qualify.
More» Martinez belts his 40th homer of the season

The D-backs must take the long view. The rotation appears to be gassed. Since Monday, the five starters have just gone through a cycle in which they allowed 29 runs (25 earned) on 32 hits in 22 innings for a 10.23 ERA.
More» Lovullo on errors, Martinez's club record

It's been a little more than two weeks since D-backs right fielder J.D. Martinez became only the 18th player in Major League history to hit four homers in a game. And since then, the homers and overall production has just kept coming.
More»Martinez is Player of Week for fourth time in 2017

The Indians' Jose Ramirez has a shot at the American League MVP Award. And as surprising as that would be, it still would not rank among the dozen biggest MVP surprises in Major League history.
More»Posnanski on 5 most surprising MVP winners

There's no one perfect formula that takes teams to October success. With that said, you won't find many clubs in recent years that went deep in the postseason without excellent defense. Enter Statcast™, and its new metric, outs above average.
More» Buxton dives for game-ending four-star grab

We are down to the FFinal FFour in our Funnest Baseball Player Tournament (FBPT) and it should be said, right up front, that we are spelling FFinal FFour with two Fs because we totally cannot afford to pay the NCAA the rights to use the single-F version. We have consulted no lawyers but are pretty sure that the double-F spelling puts us in the clear.
More»

If the Dodgers and Nationals meet again next month - and barring something very odd during the next two weeks, that wouldn't happen until the NLCS - Washington has a reason to believe it won't be doomed to repeat a similar fate after losing Game 5 of the NLDS at home. His name is Stephen Strasburg.
More» Strasburg tosses six innings of one-run ball

When the Astros clinched the American League West on Sunday, there was a common theme running through their clubhouse. Even as they celebrated, there was a sense of unfulfilled business. This baseball season is down to its final 14 days, and there's unfinished business here, there and everywhere.
More» Astros clinch AL West, Gallo hits a shot

Justin Verlander tried his best to take it all in. That's also what Astros manager A.J. Hinch wanted his players to do afterward. This was a day they might remember for the rest of their lives.
More» Verlander discusses winning the division

Justin Verlander helped his team clinch a division title on Sunday, celebrating about 1,100 miles away from Wrigley Field. He was pitching for the Astros, not the Cubs, of course. One of the reasons why he's pitching for Houston: Theo Epstein wouldn't send any members of his core group of young Major Leaguers to the Tigers as part of a package to get Verlander.
More» Baez homers, collects four hits vs. the Mets

What the Indians have built -- initially on a limited budget and eventually with go-for-it gusto in the open market and trade front -- is a team that has all the goods to win this franchise's first championship title since 1948, ending a 69-year drought.
More» Most impressive parts of Tribe's streak

When it was over, Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas turned and tipped his cap to the Tribe dugout, the 34,025 in attendance at Progressive Field rose to their feet and applauded the home club and the members of said club strolled out of the dugout, turned to the audience and applauded them right back.
More» Fans salute Tribe after record streak ends

The Cardinals have had one of the best records in the National League since late June, and for a minute there on Friday, it sure looked like they had found a way to turn the clock back to 2015.
More» DeJong lays out to rob Jay of a hit

Bill Ziegler was hoping to get an autograph of his childhood idol, Ted Williams, when, as a 24-year-old, assistant trainer at Florida State University, he applied for the trainer's job with the Washington Senators, whom Williams was managing.
More»

Had you looked at the baseball calendar three weeks ago, this weekend's Dodgers-Nationals series in Washington would have been tabbed as a potential National League Championship Series preview, albeit a series itself with very little at stake.
More»

The Indians did not set a new record with consecutive win No. 22. And that's just fine, because they've already done something arguably more impressive. Because it is occurring in a more modern, more dynamic time and has been more statistically dominant than any lossless run before it, The Streak is not baseball's longest but its best.
More» Indians extend win streak to 22 games